Tell me about Annabeth!
by Fanficforbetterskills
Summary: Percy was peacefully having cereal when Sally decides to ask him about Annabeth - her son's best friend and child wonder who she's met only once before, very fleetingly, in the dark. Sally wants to know all about her, and Percy isn't keen on telling her.


So, anything to tell me, Percy?", Sally Jackson asked, brows arching in quiet mirth. He did not miss the way her lips puckered into a slight smile, or her eyes danced suggestively. Neither did he miss the heat on his face, surely tingeing his hollowing cheeks carmine. Drawing in a breath to calm his flaming cheeks, Percy drawled, "Mooom! Please!"

"Okay, okay", she said placidly, still smirking and began putting away groceries.

""I bet _Annabeth_ would love these cheese sprinkles".

Laughing at the expression on Percy's face, she said, "Atleast tell me about her, Percy! You've told me tons about Grover, but you never divulge much about Annabeth. It's like she's some sort of secret that's your's to keep." Percy groaned, "Urgh! Ok, fine. What do you want to know, mom?"

At that, she stopped sorting through the grocery bags and turned to face him, eyes sparkling keenly. Sally told him she wanted to know "_every teeny bit about the little genius who kept her son alive_".

Slipping off his chair, Percy walked over to the counter, grabbing a half-empty bowl of cheerios as he went.

"Well...she's thirteen, she's insanely smart - which is _so_ irritating - and she's a child of Athena. There, we done?"

"Oh, sure. I didn't know any of that", Sally retorted, rolling her eyes at him. Halting midway, Percy face palmed oh-so-exaggeratedly. Quirking an eyebrow at his mother, he sighed, "You're not letting me off until I give you enough material on Annabeth for a book, are you?"

Softening a bit, Sally grinned at her son, "C'mon Perce, I just want to get to know her! She's been one of your only friends for about a year and a half now, not to mention the reason you come back in one piece every summer."

"Thanks a lot, mom."

Seating herself on a kitchen stool, she remarked in exaggerated flamboyance, "As your mother, Perseus, I deserve an account of this wondrous young lady, humph!"

"Alright! Tone down the drama, mom, Hades..."

"So what's Annabeth really like?"

"Well, she's kind of closed off around most people, but that's really just a side-effect of how life went sour real early for her. She's pretty ok with Grover and me, though. Oh, and Thalia, too, they're almost like sisters."

"Grover and me? I'm impressed." There it was again, that impish grin.

"Mom!", Percy whined.

"Fine, fine", she held her hands up.

"Okay, so Annabeth likes to read, like _a lot_, you should see her cabin at camp, and she absolutely _loves_ architecture. Take her to the Brooklyn Bridge, for example, and she'd stay rooted there forever, unless a monster's at quick disposal. She dreams of _'building something permanent, a monument to the Gods that lasts a thousand years'_, her words".

"Hmm, what's she look like? Is she just like her mother, like you resemble your father?"

"Pretty much, yeah. She looks a lot like Lady Athena. She's got long, strawberry blond curls, and gray eyes. Scary gray, just like Athena."

"But then, they don't want to turn me to burnt shrimp half as much", he muttered under his breath.

"What, Percy?"

Um, nothing, just Athena really loves me!"

At that, his mother burst out laughing, "Oh, my poor son, atleast Annabeth isn't as hostile, with her strawberry blond curls and all..."

"Okay, that's it!"

Failing to hide her grin, Sally mussed up her son's hair and tossed out an apology.

"Sorry! Percy, one last thing, be honest with me here, alright?"

Groaning, he begrudgingly nodded. Percy knew full well what his mother was going to ask, it was evident on her excited face. Steeling himself, he braced for impact on planet Aphrodite.

"_Sooo_, do you like her?"

If it hadn't been so embarrassing, Percy would've been in splits at his mother's demeanour - her face resembled a child who'd bagged a jackpot haul of treats on Halloween, features arched in such innocent joy, her whole frame leaning over the counter in anticipation. _Well_, Percy thought, _it must be kind of a big deal when your constantly threatened demigod, son of Poseidon, otherwise average teenager, gets a crush_ \- this was one of those my-boy-is-growing-up moments, and she wanted all of it, even if it meant watching him squirm under the queasiness of his developing feelings. Ignoring the fire alarms going off on his face, he stuttered, "I-I... um... I uh-"

"_PERCY_! Get down!"

There stood the very object of their _tete-a-tete_, Annabeth Chase, panting her lungs out, the door thrust out into the hallway. Without a moment's pause, Percy obeyed the command of his trusted ally and rolled to the floor. A dracanea barreled in like a bullet, shattering through the stained glass and whisking past Percy's head. With a single, graceful swipe of her dagger, Annabeth sliced the monster in half and it exploded into thin dust, showering her in patchy gold. Heaving, the girl factored in the situation and felt uncharacteristically timid. "Uh... hello, Ms Jackson."

Sally, albeit shocked, quickly got over her surprise and smiled genially, "Hello dear, you must be Annabeth! Finally! I've been begging Percy to-"

"_MOOM!_"


End file.
